whats wrong with my tourney strategy

[jten21 0]

I have been playing online tourneys, $10+1 and $20+2 lately. I have actually made 2 final tables in the past couple of weeks with a 9th and a 5th. However, it seems like I get blinded down a lot and end up have to push and pray for my tourney life too often. It seems like I cross my fingers to win races too often to either double me up to get to an average stack size or I'm out. Then the process repeats. I guess this means that I am playing too tight but I try not to get involved with marginal hands and play pretty solid. I know that people are good at tourneys and make final tables by being good and I want to get to that level. Any advice? thanks.

[iveyfan30 0]

I have been playing online tourneys, $10+1 and $20+2 lately.  I have actually made 2 final tables in the past couple of weeks with a 9th and a 5th.  However, it seems like I get blinded down a lot and end up have to push and pray for my tourney life too often.  It seems like  I cross my fingers to win races too often to either double me up to get to an average stack size or I'm out.  Then the process repeats.  I guess this means that I am playing too tight but I try not to get involved with marginal hands and play pretty solid.  I know that people are good at tourneys and make final tables by being good and I want to get to that level.  Any advice? thanks.

without seeing some hands, its hard to say exactly what you are doing wrong...it sounds like you could be playing a little too tight and giving your opponets too much credit...but , like i said try posting some hands..there are some really good tournament players in this forum that could help....

[Rocketwadster 0]

In order to attempt to analyze and provide assistance, we need to know what it is you are trying to do when you are getting closer and closer to the end of the tourney - do you play to win or play to win money by hoping others get put out before you do (there is a huge difference). You are probably playing was too tight near the end, resulting in people stealing your blinds and the like. For me personally, once I have made it to the money, it is balls-to-the-wall, go for the glory. Steal those blinds back...someone raises, you push all-in...that kind of stuff.I used to be the same way, getting blinded to death left and right. Once I switched my mindset to winning the tourney rather than trying to get my money back (with a little profit if possible), the results have improved significantly. :wink:

[NicksDad1970 0]

Like the others I can't really say w/o looking at hands. But I would say loose up some. Maybe play some more connectors and suited ones for sure. Raise more in late position. Another thing I do by feel (I don't really know what that means on the internet) is raise it up with nothing and then call the flop and check raise the turn. Almost no matter what. The thing I do wrong sometimes on that is I friggin price myself in my betting too much.Maybe it's a good thing not to listen to me though.But don't get too crazy. Don't lose a decent size pot and push all in in early position with A rag. I still fold that stuff and it seems I'm rewarded with better stuff at better times.

[Sushiman 0]

Your strategy cannot be the same the entire time during the tournament. Most people loosen up and utilize position or decent hands to steal blinds before the flop. You seem to have the same problem I do. We are both not that aggressive and hate playing for lots of chips with marginal hands, which is a big problem near the end of the tournament. I compensate for this by playing more hands in the beginning. When blinds are still low I try to see more flops with marginal/decent hands, especially if they are suited. Hopefully you will be able to flop two pair or a monster draw which will pay off, and double through by trapping someone who overbet trying to protect his TPTK hand. This way I usually have enough chips to last through the blind increases later in the game, at least for a small while.Now what I do is pretty much the opposite of every winning tournie strategy I have ever heard or read. It's served me pretty well but I say if you can learn to read people and apply aggression where it is necessary, you should probably go with that instead.

[econ_tim 0]

Like others have said, we can't give great advice without knowing more about your play.But in general, you have to switch gears at sometime during the tournaments. Since the payout of most tourneys is so top-heavy, you should play really aggressively after you make the money or even when you're on the bubble. In a typical $5 tourney with 600 players, places 60-51 might get $7, but first place might get $900 or more. It is also good to be aggressive because a lot of people are simply trying to last as long as they can without taking risks. You can steal their blinds or even medium sized pots if you bet at the right time. And remember that short stacks will go all in with any pair or sometimes Ace high, so don't be afraid to call them if you have spare chips.

[Chrisj1616 0]

Ditto what the above 2 posters said, If youre getting blinded out in tourneys the first thing that comes to mind tells me "this guy is playing too tight"First, before you play the tournament, ask yourself. Do you want to WIN and get the big money? Do you want to Squeak in the Money? If you want to squeak in the money, make no adjusments but if you want to WIN, read on :)Without seeing any hands and much to go on Ill just give you a few general Rules of thumbs for the different stages of a tourneyEarly On- Limp in a lot of pots in position with pairs connectors and such, Dont be afriad to make a few semi bluff moves as well. What you want to do is try and make a really huge hand and bust a few people, to give you a nice amount of chips to take into the Middle StagesHere I would define at about level 8, the blinds are getting high but not ludicrous high, theres probably a small ante too, at this stage is where Im going to play every aggressivley. Raise a LOT before the flop and pound away at your opponents, if you get big hands along the way great, this plays right into your hands. What your ultimatley looking for here is 2 things1) You want to pick up a lot of blinds and pick up a lot of small pots on the flop etc. You want to build a big stack2)You want your opponents to get tired of you raising before the flop every hand and you want them to start playing back at you with marginal holdings, and you will punish and bust them for doing soOnce you have a Nice stack of chips a gear change is in order, Ill usuaully tighten up a little bit and refocus and get ready to take advantage of...The BubbleThis is the one point in the tournament where you can really build a Gigantic chip stack that will pretty much ensure you make the final table. Since you want to WIN the tournament and not just make the money, Punish those trying to squeak in. Raise EVERY (and I do mean EVERY)hand. Youll only get played back at with AA KK QQ or sometimes JJ. And when you do get played back at its pretty easy to throw your hand away. Once everyones safely in the money its time for another gear change. Tighten up a little bit and let the rest of the short stacks bust. Then its time for ANOTHER lossening up to set your opponents up for the imminent final tableLate StagesLossen up and start raising a lot of pots with your big stack, the rest of the people will be trying to make the final table and with the blinds pretty high people will be tightening up again. Take advantage and keep the pressure applied, when it gets down to less than 20 get even more aggressive as the tables start to get shorthanded. People will be tightening up trying to make the last table (and the money jump that comes with it) so take advantage by bullying them. Final table strategyif youve followed the above advice (and gotten a little lucky, and not being unlucky) youll eb at the final table with a LOT of chips. Youll probably be the chip leader ir close to it. The first thing im going to do at the final table is tighten up again, i want to feel out my opponents and see how they are going to play. Once its down to about 7 or 8 is when I start up the final push to win. when the table gets to 7 or 8 come out of your shell and start attacking again. Raise a lot of pots pick up all those small pots. Youll need the chips becuase your going to have to gamble in some spots. youre going to have a few coinflip desicions and youre going to need chips for them. Keep picking up those small pots and if your fortunate enough youll be down to 5 or 6 handed. 5 or 6 handed keep up the pressure, loosen up even more. make the SAME raises preflop with J5 os or AA. Just keep the pressure on, your opponents will start getting desparate and start playing back at you, if you start losing chips, dont worry, tighten up a little bit, your opponents will notice and then come back firing again when the time seems right. if your fortunate to make it to the last 3 just keep it up. Always raise on the button, outplay your opponents when you see a flop, and dont be afraid to get caught stealing. Heads upThe most misplayed part of a tournament ive seen from my opponents. If your opponent ever folds on the button heads up you can be assured that you have a really good chance to win. rasie on the Button EVERY TIME with ANYTHING. believe it or not a lot of times your opponent will simply fold. If he doesnt outplay him after the flop. Youve gotten this far, your capable of it. be careful in the Big blind, call all reasonable prelfop raises and take the flop and outplay your opponent, grind him out to the point where he gets desparate. When youve gotten a huge chip lead nows the time to put the noose on and smother him. Now you want to tighten up. your opponent is desparatley trying to get back in the game, so dont let him. Tighten up at this point and play small pots, and get his chips in the middle when you got him beat. Congrats...youve just won the tournament ;)Of course theres a lot more to winning tournaments than what ive wrote, but this is a good blueprint to use to makeing the big cash. In the end its going to take a lot of guts, sweat, and a little luck to get it done. Take what Ive said And try to apply some of these principles, even if you dont adopt all of thembest of luck to you, let me know how it works out

[bannedit 0]

My opinion is the early stages is a great time to be aggressive. My tournament strategy relies a lot on position. I like to play a lot of flops even sometime with marginal hands if I have good position. Now I usually loosen up a bit when I've got some chips. Once I get to the later stages of a tourneyI take a stab here and there with good hands at stealing the blinds. The reason I steal even with good hands is its better to win a small pot than have to play a flop with a good hand which may or may not turn out to be the best in the end. A lot of people make the mistake of betting too little. I use the rule of betting half the pot when I've got a good hand most of the time. However the starting chip stacks plays a big role in the early stages as to how risky you want to play it. Avoiding all-ins is something you should do as well that might be another cause of your low stack near the end. If you've ever read stuff about the odds of AK vs XY you'd know its almost always a coin flip or atleast 2-1 for your opponent which is a little more than I'd like usualy but sometimes it has to be done if you want to win it. But avoiding it as much as possible is always best. If you got a good read go with it and don't be affraid to put all the money in but the thing to remember is staying alive is more important sometimes than giving away a small to medium sized pot. Pick your spots wisely.But it sounds to me that your not being aggressive enough. hopefully my strategy is helpful to you or alteast gives you some ideas.

[chipsnski 0]

Tag the first half of the Tourney.Lag in position second half and make some moves.

[SapphireTiger 0]

It depends what limits you play...Normally it's better to play tight early and then open up your game in the later stages.In order to play the way Chrisj describes, you have to play very well postflop and be able to lay down big hands occassionally.Harrington's book is awesome if you want to clean up your tourny strategy.

[Bravado2112 0]

In addition to all of the above advice, another way to loosen your game a little is to stop giving too much credit to every raiser. Raises don't always mean aces or kings. To force yourself to call raises, consider the implied odds. If the blinds are 50-100 and someone raises to 300, odds are they're in for at least another 300 on the flop if not much more, so you're being laid a good price if you actually hit the flop. Think of it that way to justify calling and loosening up a little. Since more people online seem to be raising with nothing these days, you can also sometimes steal pots by simply acting strong AFTER the flop rather than automatically folding if you don't hit your hand. Call their raise and bet out on the flop or check-raise or re-raise and unless they have a real strong hand you're gonna get a lot of pots. If someone raises pre-flop with anything but a high pair and doesn't make their hand on the flop, it's tough for them to call a re-raise or a substantial post-flop bet that could make them pot committed and put their tournament life in jeopardy when they have no made hand. Think about it - unless you're super tight and only raising with high pocket pairs, you miss a lot more flops than you make after raising...so apply the same theory to your opponent.Obviously you need to be careful with these types of plays, but these are ways to loosen your game and to pick up additional pots.